My earbud headphones broke yesterday. More precisely, only one earbud is functional. I've gone through so many pairs that it was just instinctual to go pick up another on my way to get groceries, but this time I paused and decided not to. The superficial reason why is that one earbud is enough to listen to speech if I want to (e.g. podcasts or ( Read more... )

People who live in their heads as much as I do are apt to forget this, but if there's one thing I've learned of late it's that what's good for the body is good for the mind, and vice-versa. There is a great deal one could say on this matter in the way of specifics, but right now I just need to remind myself of the principle.

". . . giving way to an opposing force is not at all the same thing as running away. A body of water does not run away when you push it; it simply gives at the point of the push and encloses your hand. A shock absorber does not fall down like a bowling-pin when struck; it gives and yet stays in the same place. To run away is the only defense of ( Read more... )

I've joined an informal shotokan dojo started by unsu2. I'm going to make notes here about things I learn from it and document where I need to improve ( Read more... )

"Hypocrisy" is one of those words with an obvious, well-understood meaning that gets curiouser the more closely you look at it. In Greek plays the hypokrites was the actor, the pretender, and it's easy enough to see how the modern meaning descended from this -- we call someone a hypocrite who makes a pretense with which their actions stand in ( Read more... )

On the off chance that anyone cares: I've started collecting my comments on other people's journals into one place. I mention it here partly because I like seeing people in various contexts to get a fuller image of who they are and wanted to put that opportunity out there for anyone who shares this peculiarity -- and partly because I have the ( Read more... )